


The Rabbit and the Dog

by therealassistant



Category: Persona 4
Genre: F/M, but it doesnt follow the plot down to a T, honestly? love how kanji's ma has her own tag, i couldnt think of a good title have mercy, i literally listened to the your name soundtrack while writing this, i saw the movie and was instantly hooked, its a your name au im sorry gamers, no beta we die like men, not gonna tag them tho lmao, same for rise's grandma and naoto's grandpa, will add more tags as characters appear and stuff happens, youll see gamers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-18 17:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19339147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealassistant/pseuds/therealassistant
Summary: One day, Detective Prince Naoto Shirogane wakes up inside a textile shop inside a countryside town. The same day, at the same time, Kanji Tatsumi wakes up inside a small apartment located somewhere in the city. While both of their lives don't seem connected in any way, it seems fate wants the two to meet. Yet it's gonna be pretty hard to do so, considering the circumstances.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright first Persona fanfic here we go
> 
> I'm still working on my v3 fanfics it's just that. I need to take a honest break from writing v3 stuff for awhile. That, and I kinda lost some of my passion for the series in the past few months or so, considering school and some family matters. With summer, I hope to start writing more often, although I do have to prepare for college eventually.
> 
> I only recently restarted playing p4 for the first time in a couple years, and it's still fun, and Your Name mostly inspired this story and it's plot so yeah. Hopefully, writing something new gives me back some of my passion lmao, and I hope ya'll enjoy this story as well.
> 
> I also apologize if any of the characters seem weird. Although I've played a lot of p4, this is my first time writing any of them. I'll try my best to replicate how they talk and act, but if it's somewhat choppy or OOC at times, well there's the reason why, and I'm sorry in advance
> 
> I already have the second chapter done as well, and it'll be posted pretty fast after this one, so it's a double whammy yeehaw
> 
> Anyway, onto the fic.

The first thing Naoto feels when consciousness ebbs on her mind is the dull sting of sunlight behind her eyelids. For a few moments, she forces herself to ignore it in some attempt to get a little bit more rest after working on some cases the night before.

Time does not stop for no one, though, and the sunlight remains. Eventually, Naoto forces herself to get up.

She slowly sits up on her bed, the blanket that covered most of her body now falling into her lap as she stretched her arms above her head, a yawn escaping her mouth before she finally opens her eyes.

At first, in her groggy state, she doesn’t quite register that she is currently not in her room, nor does she feel panic at that realization moments later. Instead, her eyes somewhat glaze over as she looks around the small, almost traditional looking room, which had a small table in the center, one she could only use by kneeling by it, covered by dozens of unfinished art projects, most of them made of felt. Besides the table lay a bag, almost looking as if it exploded, papers leaking out and falling to the floor.

Besides that, the room was quite tidy. Even the contents of the slightly open closet seemed in order, the jackets and shirts inside all hung up. She can’t help the small hum in approval, still too tired to speak.

It’s then that she finally realizes that something is wrong. She raises a hand to her throat, eyes narrowed in confusion as she forced herself to cough, as if something was caught in her throat.

 _Do I have some sort of cold? That would explain why my voice is different, but it usually isn’t this deep…_ <\p>

She forces herself to cough once again as she threw the covers off her lap and stood up, once again not realizing the obvious, this time that this wasn’t her bed, as her’s wasn’t a simple futon that laid on the hardwood floor, only to nearly fall over, having to balance herself on the wall at the last second.

It’s stupid, but she almost feels dizzy at the height difference, covering her face with one hand, screwing her eyes shut as a groan escapes her. In the instant the groan leaves her mouth though, she immediately bites her lip hearing how different her voice sounded.

_Okay then, not a cold, definitely not a cold. What is this, then?_

She forces her eyes to open as she regains her balance, straightening out her back, yet leaving her hand against the wall as she looks down at herself, only for her breath to hitch in her throat.

What she was wearing the night before seemed to be replaced by a pitch black t shirt, as well as a pair of pants in the same shade of black. Yet that wasn’t what threw her off the most, rather, it was that her chest seemed flatter, and that there was something else that she was blushing at now at the mere thought of-

She forces herself to stop that train of thought by pushing herself off the wall, stumbling a bit before she regains her footing and nearly running out of the room, sliding open the door with little regard for the noise it creates.

No one else is in the hallway she now finds herself in, and she doesn’t wait for someone to appear. Rather, she makes her way down the hall, looking into every room she crossed by to see if it had what she needed.

Eventually, after looking into an empty bedroom and a set of stairs, she opened the door which lead her to a bathroom, with a mirror hanging in front of the sink.

She takes a few steps towards the mirror before stopping, as if fearful of seeing her reflection, before she shakes her head and scoffs.

_This is ridiculous. I have no reason to be scared of my own reflection. I don’t even know why I’m doing this…_

Yet there’s that tiny voice in the back of her head, telling her that something’s wrong and demanding that she look into the mirror to have somewhat of an idea of what’s wrong with her.

With that thought in mind, she finally makes her way to the front of the mirror, taken aback slightly by how she actually has to bend down just a bit to see her face properly.

The first thing she notices takes her aback, as she now seems to radiate with hostility, even when she’s careful to keep her face neutral. Her now narrow eyes seem to be stuck in a permanent glare, accented by the small scar right above her eye, while her mouth is in the shape of a permanent scowl. Her hair, now a bright blonde, sticks out like a sore thumb, slightly spiked and ruffled, as if she had been in a fight recently.

If she had seen this sort of person on the street, and she didn't know any better, she would have immediately assumed they were someone working for the Yakuza.

She almost feels the need to puke, having to place her hands onto the sink to remain standing, yet she still can’t take her eyes away from the face in front of her, which only glares right back.

If she looks close enough, she can almost see herself in some parts of the person in front of her. How there is a slight softness in her eyes that didn’t give off any hostility, the way she stood, even down to her trying to steady her breaths to remain calm. Yet in the end, that didn’t help at all, her mind scrambling to gather her thoughts yet refusing to accept what was happening. In the end, there was really only one thing she could do.

She screamed.

###### 

The sound of footsteps seemed to rattle the small building that housed Tatsumi’s Tiles, yet Ms. Tatsumi doesn’t move from her spot at the table, continuing to read the book in front of her as the footsteps got closer.

Eventually, they stopped, followed by the sound of the sliding door in front of her opening.

Kanji Tatsumi yawned as he walked into the room, which was a small mix of what was supposed to be the dining and living room, nodding towards his mother as he made his way towards the table. “Mornin’ Ma.”

”Good morning, Kanji,” even now, as she returned the greeting, she didn’t look up at him fully, only glancing at him occasionally as he sat down and began to eat his breakfast. After a few minutes of the comfortable silence, she finally looked up from her book, a gentle smile making its way onto her face as she faced her son. “I’m glad to see that you’re feeling better. I was worried that we’d have to take you to the hospital, or that something awful had happened.”

Kanji stopped mid bite at his mother’s words, swallowing what was in his mouth and setting down what he had as he sent his mother a confused look. “What do you mean? I feel fine.”

Now it was his mother’s turn to be confused. “Really? But you seemed so different yesterday. After you screamed, you were so quiet. I assumed that at least something must have happened at school, or that you had some sort of night terror…”

Kanji stared at his mother for a few seconds more, scouring his mind for any memories from yesterday that his mother was referring to.

_I can’t really think of anything that would make me shut up like that. And I haven't had any weird dreams recently..._

Eventually, Kanji gave up on trying to rationalize his mother’s words, shrugging as he resumed eating. “Ma, you’re worrying too much about me. Don’t worry, if something’s wrong, I’ll be able to handle it.”

His mother hummed in return, and not in an “I understand” way, more like a “I’m going to bring this up later” way, before she spoke up. “Alright, for the first “wrong” thing you’re going to handle, you should probably hurry up, or you’re going to be late for school.”

Kanji’s eyes widened as he turned to look at the clock hanging on the wall, mumbling a curse under his breath as he stumbled to his feet and back towards the sliding door he had entered in before. After a minute, he came back downstairs, bag now at his side as he grabbed a bit of his breakfast before kissing his mother’s head. “Later Ma! Love ya!”

He doesn’t wait for his mother’s reply, nearly booking it out of the room and through the textile shop, shutting the sliding door behind him with one hand as he ate his remaining breakfast with the other.

He only needs to sprint for about a couple minutes before he feels like he’s going to make it to school on time, slowing his pace down as he walked by the Samegawa river bank, barely feeling out of breath as he looks over the small amount of breakfast he brought with him.

There’s not much, simply some bread and a bit of the egg he managed to grab, but it’s enough to satisfy him for now, taking a few bites of his bread as he continues his trek towards the school, idly listening to the chatter from the other students around him.

Unsurprisingly, they’re still talking about the murder that happened a week before. Something about an announcer being found hanging upside down on some pole? Either way, he had more important things to worry about than something like that. Like whether or not he was going to pass his classes, or whether or not he could really attend enough days of school, or-”

”Uhm… Excuse me.”

Although the voice is quiet, it still cuts through his thoughts quite easily, stopping mid bite into his bread as he glances down to see a girl now walking beside him, about his age, considering she was wearing the uniform for his school, even if he’d never seen her before.

_Actually, no, wait, I do now this girl! She’s that transfer student that came two weeks ago. Doesn’t she sit right behind me? Fuck, what’s her name..?_

Once again, his thoughts are cut off by the girl’s voice, a bit louder this time. “Tatsumi-kun, I wanted to thank you for… For helping me out yesterday. I honestly didn’t expect you to do anything, but…”

She trailed off, as if lost for words and expecting an answer from him, but all Kanji felt was confusion at the girl’s words. He helped her with what exactly? He didn’t remember talking to this girl yesterday either.

Still, the silence between the two slowly grows awkward, and he swallows the bread in his mouth before speaking, still uneasy. “I-It’s no prob. Can’t just leave someone hanging like that, y’know?”

The girl hums in agreement before she looks down at the ground, the silence continuing on, but not quite so awkward this time, allowing Kanji to finish his bread and move onto the remaining breakfast he had grabbed earlier, fully expecting the girl to leave him now that she’s said what she needed to say.

Yet she stays beside him the rest of the walk to school, still staring at the ground in silence. Still, Kanji couldn’t complain, he got to finish his breakfast, and actually walking with someone else for once felt kind of… Nice. He hadn’t done this in a long while, and it felt somewhat refreshing.

It’s when the two finally get to the front gates of the school does the girl finally speak up. “... If you don’t mind, can you do it again today?”

Once Kanji looks down does he see that she’s now staring off to the side, as if she felt ashamed for asking him this. “Usually, it’s not that much of a problem, but I gotta get home quick to help Grandma with the tofu shop, and those guys just kinda stop me from doing that… I’m sorry if it’s too much of an inconvenience.”

_... Oh, so she just needs help getting home? Huh, sounds simple enough._

Kanji quickly shook his head at her words, finishing off the last of his breakfast before he finally replies. “It’s no prob, I’m pretty sure the tofu shop is on the way to my place anyway. But…” He rubs his hands on his sleeves to get rid of loose crumbs before he continues. “Why the hell are some guys harrassin’ ya? If you want, I’ll beat the shit out of them for you.”

The girl’s gaze shot up, her eyes widening before she quickly shook her head. “N-No! It’s fine, really, I’m kinda used to stuff like that at this point! And do you not know about my, uhm…” She trails off, biting her lip for a second before she seems to finally settle on the right word. “... Occupation?”

”... What, like, your job?” Kanji scoffs as he crosses his arms. “What about a tofu job makes boys like you that much?”

”N-No! It’s not..!” The girl sighs in defeat, shaking her head as she looks away. “... Nevermind, it’s fine.” She then thinks for a moment, before she looks back at Kanji, her eyes widening once again as she seems to realize something. “Oh! I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve ever told you my name!” She then gives a small, almost shy smile, holding out a hand as she spoke. “I’m Rise Kujikawa, once again, thank you for helping me yesterday.”

He finds himself staring down at the hand in disbelief for a few moments, as if the girl was just joking with him, and in a few moments would retract her hand, laughing as she runs to the school to meet her friends and tell them how she tricked that idiot Kanji Tatsumi into thinking he actually did something right.

Yet the hand doesn’t retract, and her shy smile remains, prompting Kanji to, albeit hesitantly, grab her hand in return, gently shaking her hand as he smiled back. “’s nice to meet ya, Kujikawa-san.”

”Aw, no need to be so formal. You can just call me Rise!”

He blinks in shock for a moment at the girl’s words, slightly taken aback by her now slightly upbeat tone, but he quickly recollects himself, still smiling as he gave a slight chuckle. “Alright, but that just means ya gotta call me Kanji. Deal?”

Rise seemingly thinks about it, letting go of his hand to tap her chin as she hummed in thought before she finally nods. “Alright, deal!” Right after she speaks, the bell inside the school rang, causing both kids to jump, with Rise to recover first and begin her sprint to the front, waving towards him as she ran. “See ya after school, Kanji!”

He doesn’t have enough time to yell back, only able to wave in return before she disappears inside the building. It’s not that long before he begins to follow suit, clutching the strap of his backpack tighter as he runs, no longer thinking about how strange it was that he never recalled helping Rise in the first place.

###### 

Despite most of the complaints about Yasogami High, none of them were really what annoyed Kanji the most. Sure, there was the occasional annoying teacher that tried to get on his case everyday, as well as some of the more rumor loving students that whispered about him when he was literally right in front of them. But none of it could compare to how dusty the whole school was.

He knew there were custodians that worked there, he had seen them before after all, but he somewhat doubted that they actually did their job outside of cleaning the board and emptying the trash. He wasn’t exactly going to diss on them, he just wished they spent a little more time trying to clean the school.

Case in point now, where the inside of his desk is so dusty, which absolutely baffles him. He uses it everyday, and the inside somehow manages to look like a dust bunny nest.

He mumbled under his breath as he grabs his notebook from inside, opening it to begin taking some notes as the teacher’s lecture begins. The teacher talking about the significance of sunrise and sunset in literature, and how it relates to the characters in the short story they read yesterday, another thing he doesn’t quite remember.

Just like every other day though, his mind wanders off, and he begins to sketch inside the notebook. Whatever he sketches usually varies from day to day. Sometimes it’s a new design he wants to create, or some sort of stuffed creature that crossed his mind. Today, it’s a small black rabbit that wears a blue coat and hat, a small notebook in hand.

Still, eventually, he refocuses a bit on the lecture, and he has to turn the page to actually be able to write more notes, giving a small, almost frustrated sigh as he turns the page before he completely freezes up.

He’s pretty sure that he’s never gotten this far in the notebook before, yet even if he did, he doubts he’d ever write something like this. The words **Who are you?** staring back at him in bold, black letters.

###### 

The rest of the day is uneventful, even lunch is nearly the same, except for Rise, who now makes small talk with him as they both eat on the roof, one of the most underpopulated areas of the school during lunch. The only other people there being a few kids from the sports club and a few people from the year above them.

It’s only after school does change really happen. As he stands up and begins to put his stuff into his bag, he nearly forgets his promise to Rise until said girl walks up to him, patiently waiting for him to put some of his stuff away before she speaks. “You ready to go, Kanji?”

Kanji flinches at the voice, freezing up midway of putting his notebook back into his bag before he forces himself to keep moving, smiling awkwardly in return as he puts his backpack on. “Y-Yeah, let’s get going.”

The two make their way from their classroom to the gate in relative ease, with only some boys staring or glaring at the two, mumbling words to their friends at the sight.

Yet Kanji barely notices it, his mind still stuck on the words he had read in his notebook.

_There’s no way I wrote that, it wasn’t even my handwriting… Augh, but no one else could've gotten their hands on the damn notebook. Why would someone even wanna write that?_

Yet he can’t think of a real answer to the question, only glaring ahead as the two make their way from the school gates and away from the glaring to the small quiet town area of Inaba.

”... I saw you drawing in your notebook today.”

Kanji’s glare vanishes at Rise’s words, looking down in confusion at the other girl for a few moments before it turns to slight horror. If she saw the drawing, did she also see the words written in his notebook? He tries to laugh it off, scratching the back of his head as he faces forward again. “R-Really? How much did you see?”

”Nothing much, really. Just the cute little rabbit.” She then gives a small, quiet laugh. “I never expected someone like you to draw something so cute!

Kanji feels himself sigh in relief, thankful that she didn’t see the words, before he realizes what she actually saw. He feels his face turn red instantly, from anger or embarrassment he couldn’t tell, but he still finds himself tense either way as he glares down at Rise. “Y-Yeah? Why, cause I’m a guy?! You think it’s weird?”

Of course, Rise seems surprised at his words, but she quickly shakes her head, surprisingly scoffing as she did. “No, because of the way you dress! I’d expect someone like you to draw skulls and stuff. And there’s nothing weird about drawing stuff like that, either!”

Now that stops Kanji in his tracks, instantly shutting his mouth as he stared down at Rise, and the girl stared back at him with narrowed eyes.

_... Damn, I think this is the first time someone besides my Ma doesn’t find that kinda weird._

Still, at least he now knows his face is red because of embarrassment, although it was mostly because of him snapping at Rise. “... S-Sorry, it’s just that people, uhm…” He struggles to find the right words for a few minutes before settling on something, “... Usually aren’t that accepting.”

For a few minutes, Rise says nothing, and the only sound between the two is the dull knock as their feet hit the concrete. Eventually, the two are on the front steps of the tofu shop, yet Rise doesn’t quite go inside just yet, instead staring up at the building.

Compared to other buildings in Inaba, it wasn’t that different. It was a little more open, considering how it was a shop, as well as the blue coating of paint it had, but besides that, it was the same as any other building. He still couldn’t fathom why this girl was getting harassed, she seemed just like every other girl at their school.

“... Hey Kanji?”

His gaze snaps back down to Rise, head tilted just a bit. “... Yeah?”

Despite him snapping at her and his wonky apology, she still smiles up at him, hands behind her back. “Thanks for walking me home. Do you wanna walk to school together tomorrow?”

_... Huh?_

”U-Uh, well... “ He doesn’t quite know why he’s stuttering, but his mind is still at a standstill at her question. After all, someone wanted to walk with him, Kanji Tatsumi, the guy known for a short temper and being a punk?

Still, wouldn’t it be rude if he turned down her offer? “S-Sure! Wanna meet here?”

Rise nods in return, a small, quiet laugh leaving her as she finally makes her way up the steps into the tofu shop. “I’m fine with that,” she then turns to actually face the entrance of the shop as she waves behind her. “Seeya tomorrow Kanji!”

Kanji doesn’t have the chance to respond as Rise disappeared into the tofu shop, but even if he did have the chance, he honestly didn’t know what to say. All he could do was make his way back to Tatsumi’s Tiles, confused as all hell and still wondering why she asked that.

It’s only when he gets to the front of the textile shop does the idea that she wants to be his friend crosses his mind.

As quickly as that thought crosses his mind, he quickly disregards it, shaking his head as he walks into the textile shop.

_She's just being nice, that’s all._

Yet she was somewhat okay with being with him, and she didn’t make fun of his drawing either. So maybe she actually wanted to..?

”Welcome home, Kanji-kun, how was your day?”

Kanji nodded towards his mother as he removed his shoes before making his way towards the shop’s backdoor, which led to the rest of the house. “Same as any other day, Ma!”

And just like every afternoon, he quickly made his way into his room, gently throwing his bag besides the mini table as he shuts the door behind him before sitting down. Once he sits, he takes his notebook and homework out of his bag, and slowly begins to work on it.

Yet he only gets halfway through before he gets stuck, and he sighs in frustration as he puts his homework away and retreats to the drawings inside his notebook. To hell with it, he’ll just finish the rest of it tomorrow morning or something.

He goes back to working on the drawing he started during class, adding the finishing touches on the rabbit’s hat and jacket, leaning so close that his nose nearly touches the paper. Once he’s done with the sketch does he finally turn over the paper to finalize any details he wanted to add.

Once again, he freezes up as the words **Who are you?** appear, and he almost gives a sigh at how stupid he was for forgetting they existed.

He runs his hand over the words, smearing the writing just a bit and leaving some of the lead on his hand. He attempted to rub it on his pant’s leg as he scowled down at the words.

Whoever had the bright idea to write this in his journal probably thought they were really fucking funny right now. It’s just that he can’t think of a time when someone else could have gotten their hands on his notebook, so the other person who could have written in it was…

He suddenly stopped scowling, freezing up completely as he tried to take a closer look at the writing, as if it would tell him who wrote it.

There was no way he wrote this, his handwriting wasn’t that choppy looking, and he would definitely remember writing something this weird!

But then again, there seemed to be things he didn’t remember in the first place. The words of his Ma asking him how he was after seemingly yelling for no reason the day before, or how he had helped Rise by walking her home. There was just… Blanks.

Regardless, the question was still weird, shutting his notebook as he shook his head, taking to simply laying down on the ground as he stared up at the ceiling, arms crossed behind his head, mumbling under his breath. “I’m Kanji Tatsumi, dammit, no one else.”

And yet, for some reason, the words feel weird on his tongue, and he spends the rest of the night until he passes out feeling nothing but unease.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh after listening to the Your Name soundtrack, I think the most underrated piece has to be "Persuading Mayor", it's a nice piece and idk it just sounds rly nice? That's just my opinion though so rip
> 
> Alright back on topic, I said i was gonna post the next chapter in the next couple minutes, and here it is. I hope you all enjoy

The sound of a shrill, sharp buzz snaps Kanji awake, causing him to give a sharp intake of breath as he flinches, his eyes snapping open and revealing his blurry surroundings.

It takes him a few minutes to realize that the sharp buzzing sound isn’t something that would harm him, but rather, a small alarm clock on his bedside, red numbers showing the time, six thirty am. With that, he curses under his breath as he slams the snooze button, before curling back into the covers, his voice slightly muffled. “Fucking alarm…”

He only gets to shut his eyes for a few moments longer before he hears the sound of his door open, followed by a sigh. “Naoto, this is exactly why I told you to stop working so late...”

Of coure, Kanji doesn’t react that much to the voice, only curling deeper into the blankets as he mumbles something under his breath, voice still muffled behind the blanket. Besides, it’s not like they were talking to him anyway.

The voice didn’t respond for a few moments more, then he hears footsteps approach him. Before he can react, the covers are removed from his face, and Kanji is finally forced to keep his eyes open, glaring back at the person above him. “H-Hey! What’d ya do that for?!”

The person’s, a man that Kanji could guess was in his seventies or eighties, eyes widen in shock just a bit at his words. He’s just about to ask what the fuck was the old man looking at before the old man finally speaks. “Naoto, I don’t know what happened last night, but that’s no way to talk to your Grampa.”

”... H-Huh?”

The old man sighs, readjusting the glasses on his face as he looks down at the watch on his wrist. “... Very well. I’ll allow you to sleep in a little while longer, but you must go to school today.”

”W-Wait, what the fuck are you-?“

”Naoto!” He’s surprised at how shocked the older man sounds, immediately shutting his mouth. The old man mirrors his surprise with a shocked look of his own, his sharp blue eyes shining in the small amount of sunlight, before disappearing as the old man shuts his eyes. “... I apologize, I shouldn’t have raised my voice. I will head out to work and simply leave you be.”

Before Kanji can think of the appropriate response, or even an apology, the man leaves the room in a haste that surprises Kanji. It’s only when the old man leaves though does he finally realize what the man had called him.

”... Who the fuck is Naoto?” Besides his voice sounding a bit weird, there was no way anyone would mistake him for who he was. The reputation people gave him made sure of that.

Yet he finally looks around him, slowly regaining his senses, and realizes that the room he was in was much different than his own.

The room is smaller than his own, yet was so tidy that it seemed more like some sort of furniture section in a store than a place where someone lived. The only signs that someone lived there was a desk in the corner of the room covered in papers all scattered about, a backpack resting against the leg of the chair beside it.

Kanji stares at the desk for a moment, before he removes the blanket from him in one swoop, and then quickly making his way towards the desk.

The first paper he randomly grabs is a news article buried under some papers, a minor one, but the title jumps out to him in big bold letters, saying **Detective Prince Naoto Shirogane Solves Another Impossible Crime!** , a photo of a teenager shaking hands with some adult in a police uniform underneath.

_... Impossible crime? Don’t they mean something else? Like “difficult to solve”? … Actually, it doesn’t really roll off the tongue quite as well._

He shakes his head at the weird title, setting the paper back where it was, reaching for another paper before stopping once he finally sees his hand.

He clenches his hand into a fist, his now slightly longer nails digging into his palm just a bit before he relaxes it. Even the lead he didn’t manage to clean off his hand the night before is completely gone.

That wasn’t the only thing he only just now noticed that changed about him, though. There seems to be more hair on his head, and when he moves it in front of his face to inspect it, it’s no longer blonde, but an ashy black.

”... No way.” He looks around the room, panic finally seeming to set in, before he finally sees what he’s looking for.

He quickly walks towards the nightstand beside the bed, before stopping just beside it to grab the phone on top, mumbling under his breath as he struggles to turn it on with his shaking hands. “No fucking way..!”

Yet when he finally manages to turn on the phone’s camera function, he gives a sharp yell once he sees his face, dropping the phone.

The dull thunk it causes as it hits the carpeted floor barely registering in his mind because what he had seen was not his face. The face he had seen was the same one he had seen on the newspaper, yet that couldn’t be right, because the title said that Naoto was a dude, and from what he was only now starting to notice, Naoto was a-

His thoughts are, thankfully, cut off by the sharp sound of a phone ringing. He nearly jumps at the sound before glaring down at the still open phone on the ground.

Hesitantly, he picks the phone back up, trying his best to avoid looking at the camera while he shuts it off and looks at the text he got.

**Yosuke-Senpai: Yooo where r u Naoto-kun??? u stay up 2 l8 lookin at cases again?**

”... Who the hell is Yosuke?”

Once again, his voice causes him to flinch. There’s still a hint of whatever accent he had before, but it’s still a little bit too high. Either way, he needs to text back, and after thinking about it for a few seconds, he simply settles on **Sorry, I’ll be there in a bit**.

He doesn’t even bother waiting for a response, instead moving to get ready to make an attempt at heading to whatever school Naoto goes to, before he freezes up at a sudden realization, a blush creeping onto his face.

_... Dammit, I have to get dressed._

###### 

It takes him a solid two hours before he actually finds the school he was supposed to go to, simply finding out which one it was thanks to the school’s crest on the jacket he was wearing, which he guessed was part of the uniform. Still, navigating the city he was in was much harder than he had imagined, considering how he simply had to get on the train to get to school.

_If only I didn’t get on the wrong one twice in a row. Good job Kanji, you’re a goddamn genius._

Thankfully, he doesn’t get to the school in the middle of class, but just as lunch starts, guessing from what he assumes is the sound of the lunch bell, so that had saved him the embarrassment of walking in on the middle of a lecture. Either way, he was just glad he finally found the damn place, sighing in relief as he walked into the courtyard.

”Yoooooo, Naoto-kun!”

Maybe he should’ve just walked? Even if he had to guess how long the walk was, it was probably much shorter than his mini adventure on the trains, regardless of how far away the small apartment Naoto lived in was.

”Hey, Naoto-kun, you hear me?”

Wait, did he even bring lunch? Shit, and he was late to school too. At least he got the letter the old man had left on the table, the paper somehow feeling heavy in his pocket, but he hadn’t really read it either, too busy trying to navigate the trains to do so.

_I gotta apologize to the old man... I don’t think Naoto would want him to be-_

”Naoto-kun!” Kanji immediately tensed as an arm was wrapped around his shoulder, and then was easily pulled closer to whoever had grabbed him. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking-”

The voice was interrupted as Kanji quickly pushed the arm off him, readjusting the bag so that it was closer to him as he glared at the other, the damn thing nearly falling off again, who seemed to be a boy that went to the same school as Naoto did, judging by the similar uniform. “G-Get offa me!”

The boy raised his hands up in mock surrender, taking a step away as he spoke. “Sorry, sorry. You just seemed really out of it…” He then narrows his eyes, as if noticing something was off, before he smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. “Huh, you look kinda weird without your hat on for once.”

Kanji froze up at that. Shit, he was supposed to wear a hat? He had seen it on the nightstand, but he didn’t really feel like it was that important. What sort of excuse should he even make up?

Either way, he must have been glaring, as the boy took a step away from him, uncrossing his hands to once again hold them up in surrender. “N-Not like it’s that weird or anything! You just never leave home without it..!”

Kanji quickly shook his head, looking off to the side as he ran a hand through his now much darker hair. “‘S fine man... It was just, uh…” He shrugs, once again readjusting the bag at his side. “.... It got dirty.”

_Smooth, Tatsumi, really smooth._

He’s once again surprised as the other nods in understanding. “I see, I see… I guess even detectives have to get their hands dirty sometimes.” He then looks behind him, waving towards one of the tables as he yelled, “Yo, partner! Naoto-kun’s finally here!”

It frustrates Kanji just a bit that he has to stand on his toes just a bit to properly see who the other was yelling at, but that frustration is outweighed by his curiosity as a calm looking boy with gray hair smiles and waves back from the table he was sitting at.

He barely has time to wave back before the louder boy begins to walk towards the table, motioning for Kanji to follow. “Anyway, where have you been? I texted you this morning, and even if you did respond, it didn’t help much!”

Oh, so this was Yosuke? He had a feeling that a guy like this would text in a manner that was like… That. But then again, he probably shouldn’t judge the guy like that. After all, he’s only talked to him for a few minutes.

Still, he needed to think of a response, scrambling for one as he takes a seat in front of the gray haired boy. “Y-Y’know, I was just…” He stops as the bag at his side nearly falls off his shoulder for the fifth time. He then curses as he simply takes the bag off him and nearly slams the damn thing on the ground, as that seemed to finally be the last straw that was his patience.

He then sighs as he rests his arms onto the table, laying his head against them as he sighed in defeat, ignoring whatever looks he got from Yosuke and the gray haired boy. God, why was he even here in the first place? And not just the school itself, but as some stranger he’s never met? Was he ever going to be himself again?

He almost feels tears come to his eyes as the thought that he’d never even get to see his Ma again crossed his mind, digging his nails into his sleeves as he tried to steady his rapidly panicked breathing.

”Rough morning..?”

Kanji’s head shot up at the sudden voice, only to be met by the gray haired boy’s calm smile. “You don’t have to explain anything, Naoto-kun, we understand.”

He opens his mouth to argue, to yell out that no, they don’t understand, before he stops himself. No, he shouldn’t snap at someone like that again. He’d already made the mistake this morning with who he thinks is Naoto’s grandfather, he didn’t want to make anything worse for her by ruining another relationship.

Before he can respond though, the gray haired boy speaks once again. “Let me guess, you forgot your lunch, too?” Without needing any prompting from Kanji, the boy takes a container from his bag, before sliding it over to him. “Here, take some of mine.”

At first, Kanji thinks he should argue, but he eventually decides against it. There was no use looking a gift horse in the mouth. He takes a deep breath before bowing just a bit in his seat. “T-Thank you...”

He hears Yosuke laugh as he sits back up, barely catching the pat on the back he gives the gray haired boy as he opens the box. “That’s Yu for ya! Now, if only he was willing to help some poor guy study for his test at the last minute...

Yu simply laughs at Yosuke’s words, shaking his head as he waves him off. “If studying was so important to you, why didn’t you do it last night instead of watching TV?”

”Yikes, guilty as charged… B-But come on man, please!”

At this point, Kanji tunes out the two, trying to focus instead on calming down as he ate the pork Yu had given him with the utensils inside the box.

Yet it was then that he finally remembered about the note he had found on the table when he left for school, using one hand to dig into his pocket as he used the other to eat. Once he found it, he quickly opened it, careful to keep it low enough so that Yu and Yosuke wouldn’t notice it.

**To my dear Granddaughter,**

**I apologize for my sudden visit, as it seems I have come at a bad time. In the future, I will warn you in advance whenever I decide to visit, allowing you to have ample time to prepare.**

**Regardless, I hope that we can talk, or at the very least, email each other in the next few days. I understand how busy you are with the cases the police force are giving you, so for now, I will simply return to the Shirogane Estate and wait for your reply. Until then, remember that I always love you.**

**Sincerely, Grampa.**

Kanji couldn’t help the guilt he feels as he stuffs the letter back into his pocket, suddenly losing his appetite. Shit, this was his fault, wasn’t it? He had to fix this somehow, yet he has the slightest feeling that whatever he’d say to the old man would make things worse.

He’s snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of what seems like the worst, most dullest alarm he’s ever heard, but since Yu and Yosuke stood up, it probably meant the end of lunch. With that, he stands up, picking up the bag and merely holding it instead of carrying it over his shoulder, closing the box with the remaining pork inside and holding it out to Yu as he once again bowed in thanks. “Sorry for taking your lunch, Senpai.”

He looks up just in time to catch Yu’s easy-going smile, the gray haired boy giving a small laugh as he takes the box. “Naoto-kun, really, it’s no problem. I’d be an ass to not help out a friend in need.”

Kanji simply nods in response, staring up at the imposing building before him before realization dawns on his face. Sheepishly, he looks back towards the two boys, unable to meet their eyes as he nearly mumbled. “Speaking of help… Can you guys help me find my classroom?”

###### 

Kanji groans as he leans back on the chair, staring up at the ceiling with narrowed eyes as he mumbled under his breath. “Why is this so damn hard..?”

He had, somehow, managed to finish the homework he had gotten today, not wanting to ruin Naoto’s school life in case she was the more studious type, although he doubted she wasn’t. While the homework was hard, it didn’t amount to how difficult it was to write a letter to her grandfather.

About three drafts were written, two of them in the guise of a granddaughter clumsily apologizing to her grandfather with bad excuses, while the last was written explaining the entire situation relating to how his granddaughter wasn’t really herself, and that she was replaced by some boy that lived out in the country.

He had deleted that one the instant he began reading over it. If what he had written probably looks insane to him, he didn’t even want to think about how Naoto’s grandfather would react reading all of that.

Well, at least he had managed to trick Yosuke and Yu into thinking that nothing was wrong. Besides a few bumps, such as asking them where his class was, which got Yosuke to nearly yell at him, they seemed to think he was just tired.

There were still a few things that confused him, though. Like about Naoto being a detective, and how they called her a dude when she was obviously not, since he…

He quickly sat up, a blush creeping onto his face as he tried to think of something else. Unfortunately, there was not that much in the room, unless one counted the newspaper clippings and the occasional book. Yet he was not much of a reader, and he doubted he’d find any arts and crafts related stuff around the small apartment.

In the end, he settles on something small, and digs into the bag, searching for a notebook that had some free pages in it. Surprisingly, there’s one that has no writing in it, and he quickly draws inside it to distract himself from his own thoughts.

At first, he doesn’t quite know what he’s drawing, and it takes him awhile before he finally realizes that he’s drawing the final sketch of the rabbit he began working on the day before.

There’s not that much he changed though, aside from some accessories he wanted to add to it. Honestly, if he’s lucky, he’ll somehow get his hands on his old notebook at some point and add on all the extra details he’s now drawing.

He freezes up completely as the words **Who are you?** flash through his mind, and he suddenly stops drawing.

_Wait a minute… Was Naoto the one who wrote all that..? Then that means she…_

He doesn’t think that much longer on it, instead turning to the next page and writing on it, not stopping once to read over anything he’s writing or to think of an explanation to the conclusion he just drew.

No, instead he spends the rest of the night writing in the notebook until he passes out later into the night, head laying against the still open notebook while the pencil remained in his limp hand.

###### 

”... What?”

Naoto flips through the open notebook quickly, careful so that none of her classmates around her would be able to read it. She had grabbed the notebook when she had woken up, not even glancing inside it in her preparations to get to school. It’s not like she had a reason to look through it in the first place, as she had expected it to be filled with the usual notes.

Yet when she opens it to review the notes she had taken the day before, she’s taken aback by the somehow rushed but clean writing, something that wasn’t like her own handwriting at all.

**Hello, my name is Kanji Tatsumi. I dunno if you remember this, but I think you’re the one who wrote in my notebook? I dunno, it’s confusing as hell, and thinking about it makes my brain hurt, so I’m just not gonna try to think about why this is happening.**

**Long story short, I guess I’m you right now? And you’re me? Again, confusing as hell to me, and I don’t know why, but I tried my best not to mess up too much. I actually took the rights notes, did your homework, and I didn’t really fuck with whatever detective work you had. Actually, even if I wanted to, I doubt I could, cause I don’t know how the hell to even access any of it (Also, you’re a detective? How the hell did you manage that?).**

**Well, there actually is one thing I messed up with. It’s about your Grandpa. It’s nothing much, but I kinda snapped at him, and he wrote me, or you, or whoever a letter apologizing for “visiting at the wrong time” or something. I tried to apologize through an email, but I just couldn’t manage to type the right thing. To make up for it, I’ll try my best to somehow answer any questions you have. I’m sorry that this is how we meet, and I’m sorry for upsetting your Grandpa.**

**I hope we meet again, properly of course, so I can apologize to you face to face like a man.**

**-Kanji Tatsumi**

Naoto stares at the writing for a bit more, reading it over about three times before she finally closes the book.

There was no way, no possible explanation for what she had just read. It just had to be some sort of elaborate prank, probably set up by her Senpai.

Speaking of her Senpai, she looks up from the notebook just in time to see Yosuke walk into the classroom. He waves to her first, and she idly waves back in return, focusing on putting her notebook back into her bag as she spoke. “Afternoon, Senpai.”

She catches Yosuke’s nod in greeting, but he surprisingly doesn’t say anything. She only looks back up at him once she finished putting her stuff away, only to flinch back in surprise as she sees that he’s staring at her in… Confusion? Anticipation? She couldn’t actually discern what it was. “... Is something wrong?”

Much to her surprise, Yosuke sighs in relief, the easy going smile she had grown familiar with returning as she crossed his arms. “Thank god, I thought you wouldn’t return back to normal, Naoto-kun.”

”... I…” She pauses, contemplating his words for a moment. She was different yesterday, how? “... Yosuke-Senpai, I don’t understand. What exactly do you mean?”

”Well, aside from your missing hat,” he doesn’t seem to catch Naoto once again flinching back in surprise at his words. “You were kinda rude, and you were speaking differently too.” He then gives a small chuckle, pointing behind him towards her classroom door as he continued. “We also had to tell you which classroom was yours, then you threatened to beat me up for laughing at your question.”

Naoto nearly pales at his words. If she had remembered doing any of that, it wouldn’t be that frightening, but the fact that she didn’t only made it seem terrifying, and from what Yosuke was telling her and how he clearly wasn’t lying, it didn’t seem like him or Yu had tricked her by writing in her notebook.

_Then that means that… Everything in the notebook was true? I was someone else, and a boy named Kanji Tatsumi was me..? Wait, then that means that he knows that I’m..!_

Naoto nearly blushes at the thought, but mentally curses as she moves to grab her bag, ignoring Yosuke’s question of concern in favor of trying to fix the chaotic mess that was her thought process right now.

_Okay, calm down. It’s not like Tatsumi-kun has a reason for telling people something like that, and besides what Yosuke-Senpai told me, it seems like nothing else is wrong besides what happened with Grampa._

Even if the last thing she wanted was to ruin her relationship with her Grampa, she was somewhat glad that Tatsumi hadn’t done that much else, and it would be solved by an apology and a visit to her Grampa. Yet the fact that whatever the two are going through currently happened was concerning enough as is.

If she thinks about it, she does have somewhat hazy memories of another life, of a textile shop and a girl that asked her to walk home with her, but besides that, there’s just blanks, and she has no idea whether or not it’s happened before outside the small hint that it has based on what Tatsumi wrote.

In the case that it does happen again though, what should she do? She doubts she can prevent it from happening, and she has no idea where Tatsumi lived so she could find him and talk. Outside of the notebook though, there was no way for the two to communicate.

_... Wait a minute, that’s-!_

Her thoughts are stopped as she’s gently pushed, yet she doesn’t stumble as she lightly glares up at her Senpai. “... Was that really necessary?”

Yet Yosuke holds his ground, crossing his arms as he shrugged. “Kinda, you sorta spaced out. Did you even hear a word of what I said?”

Naoto doesn’t answer, yet that is somehow enough of an answer for Yosuke, as the boy continues, barely missing a beat. “I said I know you’re busy with detective work and all, but I need help showing this forgein exchange student around next month. He’s gonna be here in about a week, and he’s staying at my place.”

Now that took her aback just slightly. She was used to getting asked to find stuff people had lost, or for them to investigate into some sort of trivial incident, but getting asked to be a tour guide was new. “Why are you asking me? I only moved here a month ago, I’ve barely been around the city myself.”

”Don’t worry, it’s not like I only need your help. I’m asking Yu to help too.” At Naoto’s lack of a reply, the boy seems to grow a bit desperate, clasping his hands together as he bowed his head just a bit. “... Please, I need all the help I can get.”

Naoto looks at the boy for what feels like forever, contemplating the pros and cons. On the one hand, she had no real reason to decline, but on the other, what would happen if she had once again switched places with Tatsumi on the day she was supposed to show the exchange student around?

In the end, she realizes that there was no way out of this that would be a good excuse, and she finally sighs in defeat. “... Very well, I guess I have nothing better to do.”

Yosuke’s cheer is so sharp and loud that it attracts the attention of any remaining student in the classroom, but he doesn’t seem to notice as he moves to high five her. “Thanks, Naoto-kun, you’re the man!”

As usual, Naoto doesn’t really return it, instead nodding her head as she makes her way to the classroom’s exit. “It’s no problem, Senpai. Please be sure to text me the exact date when you have the chance. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some important matters to attend to.”

She doesn’t give Yosuke the chance to respond, instead leaving the classroom as fast as she could, holding onto her hat with her free hand so it wouldn’t tip or fall off as she moved, the bag she held somehow feeling heavier in her hand.

She was always bad at lying, and while she didn’t quite lie, she did have to email her Grampa about what happened, she still didn’t want to explain herself to him. She could handle this on her own without another’s help, and she doubted Yosuke would believe her anyway.

She also didn’t want to explain how she was going to write to the boy that took her place the day before, already thinking of what she wanted to write to Tatsumi as she moved down the stairs and out of the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if the end of this chapter feels somewhat rushed. I didn't quite know how to end it, and that seemed to be the best way possible in my tired mind. I also apologize for any typos and stuff, I usually write into the late hours of the night and it's currently 1 am now, so if I do read it over some just like completely skip through my mind. Either way I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope you all have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh I hope you all enjoyed what's done so far. I'm gonna be honest and say that updates will be so sporadic due to my erratic schedule, and I apologize in advance for that. Regardless though, thank you all so much for reading, the next chapter will be posted in a couple minutes, and I hope you'll all have a wonderful day!


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